From J.R.R. Tolkien's treasure-hoarding Smaug to the bright red beasts of the Chinese New Year's celebration, this magnificent, fire-breathing creature is ingrained in our culture. But where did the dragon originate? And how is it that people from Africa to China to America picture it the same?
An Instinct for Dragons is anthropologist David E Jones's account of his search for the mysterious birth of this ubiquitous monster. In a vast synthesis of art, mythology, history, and anthropology, Jones finds that the dragon is in fact a universal image. Not only does every culture in the world have a name for it -- smok in Polish, tatsu in Japanese, unktena in Cherokee -- but dragons everywhere share many of the same characteristics: multiple heads, talon-like claws, blazing breath.
Jones spans dragon lore from the Loch Ness monster to the Internet, as well as dragon inscriptions on cave walls, cliffs, and pots. His conclusion is stunning: not only is our fear and fascination with dragons a direct resultof the predators who threatened our evolution - eagles, leopards, and pythons - but humankind is essentially hardwired to believe in this creature.
Captivating and eloquent, An Instinct for Dragons decodes the ancient puzzle of the oldest and fiercest monster.

My youngest son Greg drew this for me when he was 14 years old. When asked why he hadn't shown the top of the soldier's head he replied, "Dad doesn't want to remember some things he's seen." My only salvation has been my family and my ability to put those feelings into words. In some small way I hope it helps you also. Dave Jones / Infantry soldier / 11Bravo40

HEMP is an agile approach to business analysis and system design for end users, project managers, business analysts, application designers, software architects, application developers, and quality assurance professionals. HEMP complements agile software development methodologies with an equally agile approach for gathering and documenting business requirements and producing system designs to drive application development that will meet the needs of end-user organizations. The practices and artifacts in HEMP are applicable for building new systems as well as customizing existing ones. HEMP is agnostic to programming languages and application frameworks so can be applied regardless of technology preference. This book includes case studies and numerous examples to help you understand the context of recommendations and how to apply them.

When you think of building a relationship with someone, what is the first thing that comes to mind? In the list of things that you thought of, I am sure that somewhere near the top of the list is "spending time with someone" and "getting to know someone." It is no different in the relationship we have with our heavenly Father. Our heavenly Father desires to spend time with His people. We know that we can all have a personal close relationship with our Father in Yeshua, our Messiah. It is a necessity of our faith to pray continually and to study the living Word of YHWH. As we examine the Word we will see that not only can we come to the King any and every day, but there are times and seasons in our walk that have been fore-ordained by the Father to reveal certain things at specific times. Have you ever read the Word and discovered something that you had never seen before? It was there all along. Why didn't we see it earlier? The answer is, we didn't see it because it was concealed. The things that are concealed belong to the LORD. The great thing is that as we search out the Word we walk in a progressive revelation of our heavenly Father. In other words, He reveals Himself to His people at the appropriate time. Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. 1 Corinthians 13:11-12 (11) When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (12) For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. As we grow in our faith, we are growing in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. In this process, we learn more about Him. We come to see Him for who He says He is, not what we have thought He was. First impressions are not always correct. Especially if someone else told you what your first impression was without ever meeting who they were talking about. Our heavenly Father has chosen to lay out certain times and seasons with His people for the purpose of drawing them closer and empowering them to live an overcoming life here on Earth. These times in Scripture are called "Moedim" in Hebrew. The definition of the word moedim is, set appointed times. We have been given appointments with the King of kings and LORD of Lords. These times throughout Scripture are prophetic in their nature. They reveal the work of the Messiah and show how the people of YHWH are equipped to walk in this life victoriously. If the King says that He wants to have an appointment with us, will we be faithful to prepare for the time appointed? It is the prayer of this author that by the time you finish this book that you will have a deeper understanding of the work that Yeshua, our Messiah, has done in your life. That as you search out the Scriptures, you will see that the appointed times that were given to the people of YHWH were given as appointments with the creator of heaven and earth. In these appointments, we find strength in our LORD and grow in our faith. May we continue to grow in the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that can only come from our heavenly Father, through Yeshua our Messiah, by His Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit).

Strategic Survival is about planning and preparation so that when life-threatening scenarios flare up you will have the necessary knowledge, supplies, and equipment to get through it. This book covers the most significant potential disaster scenarios we face in our modern world and details the overlapping personal, family, and community affects of each. With an understanding of the potential problems we face you're ready to explore strategies to survive them. Learn about equipment and supplies you can carry with you, and skills to develop to use them effectively. Learn how to travel safely should you need to get home, or somewhere away from home, in an emergency. Learn about three levels of survival "retreats" including your home, a place to live during or after a disaster, and a place to hide when other places aren't safe. Learn about inexpensive shelters that will protect you from nuclear fallout and exposure to hot or cold weather without dependence on energy or fuel. Learn about caching valuable equipment and supplies, and maintaining mobility. Finally, learn about trading, building communities based on need, and setting a foundation for future prosperity. This is a great book for beginners with references to dozens of other recommended books about survival, preparedness, infrastructure, food production, and of course works of fiction to stimulate the imagination and provide some entertainment along the way. This book also references many specific products to save you time on research and give you examples of things you may find useful both now and after the world is no longer as we know it. Written by an author who is not a survival professional, Scenario-Based Strategic Survival comes from the perspective of a busy professional with a hobby of preparedness who wishes he had the information in this book many years ago when getting started.

Biological warfare is a menacing twenty-first-century issue, but its origins extend to antiquity. While the recorded use of toxins in warfare in some ancient populations is rarely disputed (the use of arsenical smoke in China, which dates to at least 1000 BC, for example) the use of "poison arrows" and other deadly substances by Native American groups has been fraught with contradiction. At last revealing clear documentation to support these theories, anthropologist David Jones transforms the realm of ethnobotany in Poison Arrows.

Examining evidence within the few extant descriptive accounts of Native American warfare, along with grooved arrowheads and clues from botanical knowledge, Jones builds a solid case to indicate widespread and very effective use of many types of toxins. He argues that various groups applied them to not only warfare but also to hunting, and even as an early form of insect extermination. Culling extensive ethnological, historical, and archaeological data, Jones provides a thoroughly comprehensive survey of the use of ethnobotanical and entomological compounds applied in wide-ranging ways, including homicide and suicide. Although many narratives from the contact period in North America deny such uses, Jones now offers conclusive documentation to prove otherwise.

A groundbreaking study of a subject that has been long overlooked, Poison Arrows imparts an extraordinary new perspective to the history of warfare, weaponry, and deadly human ingenuity.

Women Warriors takes the reader back through history and around the world to uncover a clear pattern of women as warriors. It is a fascinating comment on the nature of gender, on the power of the warrior image, and on the image's source in history.

"This book provides the first and only comprehensive survey of armor, shields, and fortifications [of American Indians]. . . . It has left me with a new appreciation for the sheer diversity of warfare, armor, and fortifications used by Native Americans, and it shatters stereotypes about the nature of aboriginal warfare." -- Wayne Van Horne, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Kennesaw State University

From the Chickasaw fighting the Choctaw in the Southeast to the Sioux battling the Cheyenne on the Great Plains, warfare was endemic among the North American Indians when Europeans first arrived on this continent. An impressive array of offensive weaponry and battle tactics gave rise to an equally impressive range of defensive technology. Native Americans constructed very effective armor and shields using wood, bone, and leather. Their fortifications ranged from simple refuges to walled and moated stockades to multiple stockades linked in strategic defensive networks.

In this book, David E. Jones offers the first systematic comparative study of the defensive armor and fortifications of aboriginal Native Americans. Drawing data from ethnohistorical accounts and archaeological evidence, he surveys the use of armor, shields, and fortifications both before European contact and during the historic period by American Indians from the Southeast to the Northwest Coast, from the Northeast Woodlands to the desert Southwest, and from the Sub-Arctic to the Great Plains. Jones also demonstrates the sociocultural factors that affected warfare and shaped the development of different types of armor and fortifications. Extensive eyewitness descriptions of warfare, armor, and fortifications, aswell as photos and sketches of Indian armor from museum collections, add a visual dimension to the text.

This is the first book to describe martial arts and martial behaviors as serious topics deserving of serious study. Although there have been a number of readers dealing with warfare, this is the only one that, among other things, focuses on the warrior, both ancient and modern.

Presents a collection of readings which introduce the study of martial behaviors in a cross-cultural context. The subject matter ranges from a consideration of the warclub as weapon and status symbol among the chiefdoms of the American Southwest at the time of European contact to contemporary ritual warfare in the highlands of Bolivia.

All over the world, warriors have left their mark on culture. Their codes of behavior become the basis of diplomacy, models of service, and courage in the protection of social institutions. Chivalry in the West arose from the codes of the noble knights and DEGREESIBushido DEGREESR, (The Way of the Warrior), the Bible of the Samurai, still serves as the basis of etiquette in modern Japan. In practically every society myths and tales of culture heroes who are warriors are important in the enculturation and socialization of children. Martial arts, which are stylized behaviors displaying techniques related to those practiced on the battlefield, are considered here to be more about culture, art, and history than about fighting.